What a ride - 400 miles, 47 hours

We left Green Turtle Cay last Wednesday, Reg's 17th birthday to head to Great Sale Cay, an uninhabited island on the north Bahamas Bank. We were hoping we could sail to conserve fuel as we started the first day of what could be a four-day trip back to the United States, hopefully Charleston.

It was a fantastic sail, with dolphins and clear, clear water and we flew in the light chop, easily making the 60-mile run by sunset. We had a quick chat on the radio with Civil Twilight as we tucked into bed for a good nights' sleep.

The plan was to get up early on Thursday and make our way to the Gulf Stream, trying to reach the waypoint for the maximum strength of the current. Alan on Civil Twilight had talked to Chris Parker, a kind of weather guru about the lat and long and so on his advice we set our course.

We reached the Gulf Stream about midday and by the time we got to its centre axis, we were humming. We motorsailed and started picking up speed, 5 knots, 6 knots, 7 until we started to reach 10 knots. The south wind filled our sails and every now and then Messenger would dip her bow into the waves, pushed down from the speed of the boat. It was breathtaking. (To convert knots to statute miles, multiply by 1.1).

Best of all though, no one was seasick. Reg, Elizabeth and I all wore scopolamine patches behind our ears - they're good for three days. Reg felt so good he was able to stand a watch from 9 p.m. to midnight after I helped get him set up and he did the same thing the next day.

Friday's sunrise was spectacular. Aidan stood our early morning watches at 5 or 6 for two hours, giving Scott and I a much-needed break. However, Scott never really sleeps off watch, he struggles to relax while not at the helm. That changed a bit on Friday night though when he kind of collapsed on the salon berth tucked in a lee cloth to prevent him from falling off.

I had made all of our meals at Green Turtle on Tuesday, sweating furiously in my bathing suit in the galley and boy were we glad. We had baked chicken, beef stroganoff, beef stew and on Thursday while underway I made homemade bread and stromboli (a baked sandwich) for a special treat.

On Friday we managed to not only sail all day but to also average about 10.5 knots, the same speed as momtorsailing. At one point we had hit 11.7 knots and Reg said no one at home would believe it.

At dusk the wind was shifting and light so put on the motor and started to work our way off of the Gulf Steam to head toward Charleston. This is somewhat like trying to step off a giant converyor belt going full tilt. Messenger was tossed in the swirling eddies and building seas and winds in the night, making for a very bumpy ride.

We slowed down to come into Charleston in daylight. We were welcomed into the beautiful harbour by a flock of pelicans.

We slipped into a dock at the Charleston City Marina and our friends on Endurance came in later that day as well!

We spent the next few days visiting my cousin Tom and Sharon, and getting ourselves and the boat back together. Tom took me to Wal-Mart to re-provision where I was dizzied by the choice and amount of food in one store. I overcame that though and managed to fill up two shopping carts. We topped up fuel, water, propane and we'll head out today to go down the Intracoastal Waterway for the next big leg on this incredible journey.